


i'll be a hero or die

by GrayJedi11



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Magic, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Sweetheart, Blood, Blood and Gore, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Angst, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Needs a Hug, Dogs, Dragons, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Itll make sense, Kinda, M/M, Self-Destruction, Sort Of, Spiders, Suicidal Thoughts, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, i dont know man, idk when this is set so im not sure if they have like, ish, names for that shit, remus and roman are princes, virgil protecc his bf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayJedi11/pseuds/GrayJedi11
Summary: Remus bites off more than he can chew.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Comments: 1
Kudos: 90





	i'll be a hero or die

Blood was dripping from his lip.

Blood was dripping from a lot of places, actually. His shoulder, his leg, his other leg, his chest. It seeped through Remus’s clothes, hitting the dry dirt when it fell.

The beast was far less damaged than him. Technically it was a job for three people and a magic user, but Remus was going to prove he was better than his brother. Roman had tried and failed to kill this monster, and was now lying in bed complaining about the gash in his side. It wasn’t even that _deep_.

The hound growled. Well, more like a giant mixture of a hound, a dragon, and maybe some kind of spider. One of the mandibles reached out for Remus’s leg again.

“What, you got a foot kink?” He grumbled as he swung his morningstar at it. It just barely collided, but not before one of the other mandibles swept his feet out from under him.

This was a losing battle.

Remus limped forward as fast as he could. Virgil would be worrying about him at this point. He wasn’t going to get close enough to swing, so he tossed one of his knives directly at the being’s chest. It was tiny compared to the hound’s massive body, but it was all he had.

It hit. It did hit. But it didn’t leave anything more than a scratch.

The monster raged at him, slobbering jaws open wide. Remus couldn’t make a fool of himself, he couldn’t fail after his brother had laughed at him.

He would kill this thing, even if he died with it.

His morningstar collided with its chest as a mandible once again slashed across his leg. The huge paw pinned down his chest, making the older wound sting and new ones appear from underneath its claws. One of the sharp claws edged closer to his neck, the gash in its chest ignored for the joy that came from Remus’s skin getting closer and closer from relinquishing its gateway to his throat. And then, the dog would feast on his dead body, fly off to find some sheep to terrorize, and Remus’s existence would be nothing more than a meal-

“Remus!”

Glittering purple life thrust the monster away. He could breathe again. He was in the center of a glowing sphere, the familiar feeling of Virgil’s magic.

The hound clawed at the forcefield, having no way to break the seal between it and its prey. Virgil ran up from behind Remus, holding the shield in place while seeing if there were any immediate ways he could help Remus.

“Remus, we’ve gotta get you out of here…”

Virgil’s magic wouldn’t last forever. He heaved Remus into his arms, pulling him onto their horse. He took a deep breath, opening the shield for a moment to use the little bit of attack mgic he knew. The dog recoiled for a moment, the hit blinding one eye long enough for them to get away.

Virgil took his chance to leave.

He gripped Remus as the mare took off towards the trees. Once they got to the dense part of the forest, the trees would be too close for the hound to follow, and their figures would be too small to see from overhead. From there, Virgil could use the bandages from his knapsack to wrap up the life-threatening wounds, and then they would return to the cottage to properly fix them and the other wounds up.

The hound was following them again. They were getting closer, closer, Virgil’s magic was dying out. Its paws began phasing through the purple border. Its claws were getting closer, but so were the trees. _We can’t die, we can’t die_. There was a particular squeeze through up ahead and if the dog didn’t reach them-

 _Safe_.

The hound made its way along the edge of the thick trees, and all Virgil wanted to do was rest his head on the roots and go to sleep. He chose a spot where the creature could no longer see them, laying Remus down and ushering the horse in front of the tree. His partner's face was pale, and his clothes were bloody. Why had he worn such thin armor? It was easy to take off, at least. Without his shirt, the wounds had nothing to keep the blood from seeping out. Virgil wrapped tight bandages around the deepest one on his chest, keeping his ears open for the hound.

When he was done with all the bandages he had, he let his hand rest on Remus’s cheek, letting out a deep breath.

“...Why?”

Virgil knew he wasn’t going to get an answer right now. Remus was probably unconscious, having lost so much blood. Virgil reattached his bag to their horse’s saddle and placed Remus on her back again, heading in the direction of their cottage.

“...Virgil?”

“I’m taking you home, it’s okay.”

“The… the dog…”

“Don’t worry about that now, okay?”

Remus stayed quiet for the rest of their trip, looking peaceful despite his discomfort. Finally they reached the hill beside their cottage. Virgil was just glad the mare hadn’t been scared off as she trudged along. Virgil tied her up where she could get some food and water, carrying Remus the rest of the way. He placed him in their bedroom and retrieved more bandages, along with a washcloth and a bucket of warm water.

Remus tensed up when Virgil rolled up his pants and began dabbing at the wounds there. He did the same for the ones on his torso, carefully unwrapping the bandages so he could get the dirt out. The one on his shoulder was thankfully not as bad, and the ones on his neck hadn’t managed to get very deep.

“...Virgil… I need to kill it- ow-”

“Remus, there’s no way you could’ve killed that thing on your own. You would’ve died without my magic.”

“Let me… let me go back… I can kill it-”

“Remus, can’t you see what that thing did to you? If I hadn’t wrapped them up as soon as I could, you’d… be in a much worse state.”

Virgil placed his hand on the side of Remus’s face, fingers lightly brushing his hair away. Remus smiled slightly at the touch, putting his own hand over Virgil’s and opening his eyes a little.

“Why did you do that, Re? You must have known it was gonna end badly.”

“I… I wanted to be better than my brother. I thought, maybe I can take it. And… there are only two ways it could go. ‘Become a hero,’ or ‘die brave,’ so… it works out either way.”

“You’d be willing to _die_ just so people think you’re brave?”

Remus looked down. “They’re not gonna care if I die unless I can defeat something like that. Not my kingdom, not my family, I’ve… never been good enough.”

“No, no, Remus. Hey, look at me. Your family loves you. You’re their son, and Roman’s brother. Your _people_ love you. Of _course_ they love you. And if they don’t love you enough, I’ll do it for them. That’s why you came to live with me here, isn’t it? You don’t have to push way past your limits to be loved. You know, or at least I’m pretty sure you do, that there was no way you were going to survive that without help.”

“...I guess I did.”

“You should get some sleep now, okay? You’ll feel a little better when you wake up. I’ll make you those god-awful pastries you like.”

“...Thanks, V. For saving my life. And the pastries.”

Virgil smiled softly, leaning down to place a small kiss on his cheek, and then he repositioned himself in one of their chairs to sit beside his lover until he was ready to make the pastries. And maybe fall asleep too.


End file.
